Computerized systems adaptable for use with the fabrication of clothing are known in the art. Known systems include U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,434. The method disclosed in the '434 patent is for visually composing and editing original apparel designs and includes the steps of providing a plurality of configurations of individual garment components, compiling a computer database from which the components may be retrieved and assembled in a finished apparel format on a figure outline in selected composite fashion, and if desired, modifying the apparel design by replacement of any component by a selection of a new element from the database by the use of an electronic locating instrument. Further, the design may be presented as a permutation of any one or more selected parts. When a design is completed, its component CRT image is made available in accordance with the '434 method as hard copy which can subsequently be used in cutting component parts comprising the design on suitable piece goods.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,068 discloses a system for optimizing material utilization. The '068 system automatically arranges patterns on a surface of a material in a manner which will require less material than which would otherwise be consumed by a human performing the same task. The simulated movement of each pattern piece about an established marker boundary is accomplished by data processing techniques. Once the contour of a piece outline and boundary outline is known and the slopes of the vertex connecting the segments are determined, the '068 system displaces the pieces within the boundary in a nonoverlapping manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,866 discloses a method and apparatus for matching panels to be cut from pattern fabrics. The '866 method and apparatus first defines matching points in each of several patterns of panels to be cut and digitizes the panels at these points so that the coordinates in respected identification codes for each of the points are recorded in memory. Matching relationships are then defined for the matching points which unequivocally fix the position which the design must be in at each of the matching points and records these relationships in memory. Thereafter, separation margins between the panels and distribution are established by the '866 method and apparatus, either automatically or interactively on the basis of the previously defined matching relationships. A vision sensor is then automatically positioned over the spread pattern fabric which is to be cut in the positions of the matching points which have been defined for each one of the panels which have been distributed for cutting. The relative design position with respect to a reference position at each of the matching point positions is then determined and a position correction obtained for each panel with respect to the position initially assigned to each one of the panels to be cut. Each position correction is obtained on the basis of the positions of the pattern determined in the previous step and on the basis of the previously defined matching relationships wherein all of the panels which are to be cut are matched prior to proceeding with their cutting operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,246 discloses a system for creating custom garments of clothing by combining data on a personal tailoring measurements of the wearer, physical characteristics of the wearer, garment pattern and garment options selected on the basis of resulting combinations of personal pattern data. The '246 system is embodied with a central location unit including a cutting table apparatus, a memory and a pattern processing system. The central units serves a plurality of remote location equipments through a communication system. The remote equipments include an interactive graphic display wherein an operator can customize the garment. A garment pattern is first selected from memory. Personal physical data is supplied and the two forms of data are combined to provide a representative of the combination. Upon confirmation, the specific pattern data is processed to control a central location cutting table apparatus to provide the components which are sewn together to create the desired garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,849 discloses a system for converting a rough sketch into a finished drawing. In the '849 system, an electronic digitizing tablet or its equivalent is used to receive a roughly sketched object by an operator along with the desired final proportions which are entered into a stored table called a pointing sequence list (PSL) capable of storing all of the information required to define both the original form and the desired final configuration of the object. The PSL initially contains positional entries representing the coordinates of definitive points on the roughly sketched object and dimensional entries specifying the proportions which the object is to have in its final configuration. These are arranged in an order corresponding to a predefined pointing sequence which is followed by the operator when he enters the necessary items into the graphic information system. The PSL is subsequently converted to a new PSL by a rectifying procedure which modifies the coordinates of the previously entered points when necessary in order to effect the horizontal and vertical alignments of points ostensibly located on common, axially directed lines. Consequently, the '849 system is limited to rectifying a rough sketch into a preferred final geometry to eliminate undesirable irregularities from, for example, nonparallel lines.
In addition, the prior art includes systems for manipulating databases which have digital images of articles, such as garment segments, (equivalently; pieces, panels or patterns). However, the prior art is directed towards the creation and manipulation of computer databases after the garment segments have been put in their final form for that garment piece by the designer or pattern maker. The known systems are all characterized by computer software which requires closed polygonal elements in order to be manipulated, such as for grading or other purposes. Further, the natural intuitive actions of the designer during the development process, such as erasures, redrawn lines, etc., are not compatible with the known computerized systems.
It would be advantageous to have a system which to be used to during the creative pattern developing process itself that digitizes an article's elements in real time and constructs the garment segments in a final form. This system would be capable of use during the development process in which the garment segments have no preselected final geometric shape. The present invention is drawn towards such a system.